Angle bar for rail joints



April 19, 1932. w. s BOYCE ANGLE BAR FOR RAIL JOINTS Filed June L8, 1930W 1 MN MN f 7%? I @zi'aziz Patented Apr. 19, 1932 PATENT OFFICE WILLIAMS. BOYCE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS ANGLE BAR non BAIL JOINTS Applicationfiled June 1 8, 1930. Serial No. 461,903.

This invention relates to an angle bar for a rail joint and has for itsmain object to provide an improved angle or rail joint bar which willfacilitate the anchoring, both '5 against vertical displacement andhorizontal shifting or creeping, of the rail relative to the railsupport or tie, without requiring accuracy in the positioning of the tieor ties relative to the location of the joint between the ends of tworails.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be understood byreference to the following specification and accompanying drawings inwhich I have illustrated an angle bar. embodying a selected form of myinvention.

In the drawings v Fig. 1 is a side elevation on a small scale of a railoint in which my improved angle bar is used for connecting the adjacentends of two rails. s

Fig. 2 is a partial section on the line 2- of Fig. 1. v i

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 8-3 of 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of my improved anglebar, and

Fig. 5 is a plan section similar to Fig. 3, but on a smaller scale andshowing a moditied arrangement.

Referring now to the drawings, I have indicated in Fig. 1, the endportions of 'two rails 5 and 6 which are joined, the ends of the railsabutting or nearly abutting as indicated at 7. In more or lessstandardized practice, the ends of two rail lengths are connectedbymeans of a pair of angle bars, one disposed on each side of the rail andconnected to each other by means of bolts extending I through suitableopenings in the two angle bars and through the interposed webs of therails. 1

The angle bars used on both sides of the rail, i. e. on the inside andoutside, may conveniently be of like construction. Accordingly, I haveillustrated only one side of the rail and one angle bar as applied toone side of the rail joint. In 1, I have illustrated my improved anglebar at 8 connected to the rails 5 and 6 and to theangle bar on theopposite sides of the rails by means of bolts 9.-

Some railroads have adopted a standard requirement that each rail jointbe located immediately over a tie'while other railroads have adopted astandard requirement that the rail joint be supported by two ties, one:1 located at each end of the angle bars, in which case the abuttingends of the rails are disposed intermediate the ties. Still other railroads make no special requirement as to the location of the ties withrespect to the rail joint.

Where there are definite'requirements as to the location of the tieswith respect to the joint between the rail ends, the base flanges of theangle bars used by such railroads often extend beyond the edges of thebase flanges of the rail and the extending or projecting edge portionsof the angle bar flanges are provided with punched-out notches ofconsiderable depth, which permit a spike to be driven into thesupporting tie through the notches. The notches are ordinarily of suchdepth that the spike will be positioned closelv adjacent the edge of therail base flange. This practice has been found quite objectionable forthe reason that the punching-out of metal to form the spike receivingnotches results in the production of numerous incipient fractures which,in time, result in complete breakdown of the angle bar and ultimately ofthe so rail joint.

In order to overcome this objection of weakened angle bars, somerailroads have adopted as standard, or at least for experimentalpurposes, an angle bar in which the base flange is only of such widththat its outer edge will be substantially coplanar with the outer edgeof the base flange of a rail to which the angle bar is applied. Thespikes may then be driven into the tie closely adjacent the outer edgesof both the rail base flange and the angle bar base flange.

Where the base flange of an angle bar is of the last described type, i.e. of narrow width and free from spike receiving notches. there is amore or less serious objection present by reason of the fact that thereis a total loss of the anti-creeping function of the spikes when used inangle bars having notches for receiving the spikes. Hence, it appearsthat an advantage gained by avoiding weakening of the angle bars is moreor less offset by the loss of the anti-creeping effect of the spike whennotched angle bars are used.

Another long recognized objection to the notched type of angle bar isfound in the fact that because of the weakening effect of the punchednotches, it has heretofore been necessary to limit the number of notchesto the absolute minimum requirement for each installation whichordinarily has been two notches, one located adjacent each end of theangle bar. The necessary limitation of the number of notches and theconsequent limitation as to the location of the spike with respect tothe length of the angle bar also involves the necessity of accuratelypositioning the rail supporting ties in such position that the spikeswill enter the same at a point spaced well inwardly from either side ofeach tie. Such positioning of the ties often requires the expenditure ofmuch labor and consequent expense, especially where new rails are beinglaid on old road bed. It is further objectionable to shift the ties fromtheir original position where the road bed has been well packed torelatively unpacked road bed, since such shifting would require constantraising and filling under the ties to maintain the level of the rails.

By .my present invention, I overcome all of the objections .above notedwhich result from the various practices heretofore in-. dulged in byvarious railroads while at the same time obtaining substantially all ofthe benefits of each of the variouspracticesabove outlined.

As shown in Fig. 1, the rail joint is supported by .two ties designatedand 11 respectively, .the tie 10 being located substantia llyunder theend of the angle bar 8 and the tie 11 being located well inwardly fromthe other end of the anglebar-S. lVhere the tie is located with respectto the end of the angle bar as the tie lO'is located with respect to theangle bar 8, the notch provided in the prior notched type of angle barwould be located well within the width of the tie so that a spike driventhrough the notch would be well anchored in the tie and becauseof thenotched angle bar, it would have considerable .anti-creeping effect onthe rail. However, in instances where the tie is positioned with respectto .the end of the angle bar as is the tie 11 with respect to the anglebar, it would be impractical to drive a spike into the tie at thelocation of a notch in the prior art notched type bars for the reasonthat if the spike would enter the tie at all, it would be so near theside of the tie as to split the latter, whereby all practical holdingpower of the spike would be lost.

Inimy improved angle bar, the base flange 12 is provided in its outeredge with a plurality of projections 13 which form recessed seats 14.The recessed seats thus formed are spaced longitudinally of the bar andthus afford wide selection of locations in which the spike may be driveninto the tie. Hence, it is not important that the tie be accuratelypositioned with respect to the rail oint or end of the angle bar wheremy improved angle bar is used.

As clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the arrangement is preferably suchthat the rec ssed'seats lt are-substantially coplanar with the outeredge 15 of the rail base flange 16. A spike 1"? may then be positionedat one of the recessed seats 14 so that the inner side 18 of'the spikeis disposed closely adjacent the outer edges of both the rail baseflange and the angle bar base flange to therebyprevent sidewisedisplacement of the rail. The projecting base flange portions 13 of theangle bar are obviously effective to engage the op- ;osite sides of thespike so as to prevent creepin of the rail.

In Figs. 1 and 2, I have illustrated tie plates 19 interposed betweenthe base of the rail and the tie in accordance with the practice adoptedby many railroads. Tie plates hai-ing standard punching for spikes mayreadily be used at the joints where my improved angle bar is used, sincethe'location of the spike with respect to the angle bar is notrestricted as in the case of the prior art punched angle bars. It is, ofcourse, to .be understood that the tie plates are desirably, if notnecessarily, located entirely over ties so as to be fully supportedthereby and that where prior art punched angle bars are used, it is,necessary to accurately position the tie so that the tie plate will belocated entirely overthe tie and with the further requirement that thetie and tie plate be so positioned that the spike holes in the tie platewill register with the punched notch of theangle bar. Obviously, with myimproved angle bar, only a minimum amount of shifting will be requiredto align the spike holes of a tie plate with one of the recessed seatsin the edge of the angle bar.

The structure of the vertical web portion 20 of my improved angle barmay be of any desired form and the thickness of the base flange 12 maybe of any desired thickness to provide the required strength. Therecessed seats 14 and projections 13 may readil be formed by swaging orby rolling'operation as an incident of the rolling of the angle bar. Bythus forming the projections and seats, I avoid the formation ofincipient fractures, such as above referred to.

The outer edge of the base flange 12 of my improved angle bar throughoutits length with a plurality of alernately arranged seats and projectionsas ttove described or, if desired, a series of such seats andprojections may be formed adjacent each end of the angle bar or at anymay be provided other desired location in the length thereof.Preferably, the entire length is provided with regularly spaced seatsand projections which in this instance are illustrated as being of suchproportions that the projections are considerably narrower than thewidths of the seats. By this means, a wide range of adjustment, i. e. ofpossible spike positions, is provided.

In Fig. a modified arrangement of alternate seats and projections isshown. In this form the seats and projections are formed by alternatelyarranged, substantially like undulations 21 and 22. Preferably, theundulations 21 are recessed into the edge of the base flange of theangle bar (with respect to the normal edge thereof) substantially thesame amount that the undulations 22 extend outwardly from said edge.Hence, if the normal edge of the bar is aligned with the edge of a railbase flange, there will be a plurality of spaced angle bar portionsprojecting beyond the edge of the rail base flange while the latterprojects the same amount beyond the bottom of the inward undulations.Spikes may be driven selectively between any of the adjacent projectingundulations to provide the anti-creeping effect of the spike on therail. This form is desirable in some instances for the reason that theangle bar need be of no different (either heavier or lighter) weightthan the heretofore used angle bars having a narrow base flange, theedge of which is normally aligned with the edge of the rail base flange.It will be observed that the metal extending beyond the rail base flangein my modified construction is substantially equal in bulk to thatrecessed into the flange beyond the normal edge thereof. Hence, theweight and cost of my improved, modified form, of bar need be no greaterthan that of the prior art forms of angle bars while at the same time,having the desirable feature herein described. In some respects thismodified form of structure is somewhat easier to manufacture andaccordingly of further advantage. I

I am aware that changes may be made in the above described constructionwithout departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of whichshould be determined by reference to the following claims, the samebeing construed as broadly as possible consistent with the state of theart.

I claim as my invention:

1. An angle bar having a base flange provided with a series ofprojections on its outer edge forming a series of recessed seats spacedlongitudinally of the bar, said projections and the recesses formedthereby being of such size and shape as to be adapted to be swaged inthe base flange.

2. An angle bar having a base flange provided with a series ofprojections on its outer edge forming a series of recessed seats spacedlongitudinally of the bar, said projections i and the recesses formedthereby being of such size and shape as to be adapted to be rolled inthe base flange as an incident to the rolling of the angle bar.

3. An angle bar for a rail joint, having a base flange, the width ofsaid flange being such that the outer edge thereof will be substantiallycoplanar with the adjacent edge of the base flange of a rail to whichthe angle bar is adapted to be applied, and a series of recessed seatsspaced longitudinally of the bar at relatively narrow intervals forreceiving a spike selectively in a wide range of locations relative tothe length of the bar.

a. An angle bar for a rail joint, having a base flange provided with aseries of uniformly spaced projections at relatively narrow intervals onits outer edge forming a series of recessed seats spaced longitudinallyof the bar for selectively receiving a spike in a wide range oflocations relative to the length of the bar.

5. An angle bar for a rail joint, having a base flange provided on itsouter edge with a series of projections of less width than the spacesintermediate the projections, said spaces forming a series of recessedseats spaced longitudinally of the bar for the purpose described.

6. An angle bar for a rail joint, having a base flange provided on itsouter edge, throughout its entire length, with a plurality ofalternately arranged, substantially like undulations forming projectionsadapted to, position a spike longitudinally of the angle bar.

7. An angle bar for a rail joint, having a base flange provided on itsouter edge, with a series of alternately arranged, sub stantially likeundulations forming projections adapted to position a spikelongitudinally of the angle bar.

8. An angle bar for a rail joint, having a base flange, the width ofsaid flange being such that the normal outer edge thereof will besubstantially coplanar with the adjacent edge of the base flange of arail to which the angle bar is adapted to be applied, and a series ofalternately arranged, substantially like undulations forming projectionsfor the purpose described.

WILLIAM S. BOYCE.

